User blog:Piestro/Returning to EverQuest
Returning to EverQuest Greetings, My name is Eric “Piestro” Cleaver, and as I write this blog I’m in the process of rejoining the EverQuest team for the 3rd time as Community Manager. Coming back to working on EverQuest always brings a smile to my face; there’s nothing quite like hearing the sound of that loading music! Returning to EverQuest is not an uncommon experience. Every day I see new posts on the forums and reddit where returning players are asking for advice or have questions about how EverQuest has changed over the years. So, I thought I’d write up this blog to give folks a few pointers and hopefully answer some common questions that returning players have. How Many Levels Are There Now? As of September 2013 there are 100 levels in EverQuest. As is common with more mature games the population tends to be heavier the higher level you get; don’t worry, though, because there are still people playing at every level of the game! There is a feature called hotzones that award more experience in a set of zones designed for leveling. Head to these zones, and you will be more likely to find folks to group with. It’s always better to seek people out rather than announcing your availability. Don’t be afraid to travel to these areas to find a group.When Should I Worry About Alternate Advancement? AA (Alternate Advancement) has steadily grown over the last decade. One really common question that is often posed by returning players is how and when to gain/spend your points. In general, I advocate switching your experience to gain AA whenever you have found a point you are particularly enjoying or when mobs start to become a little more difficult. There isn’t a rule on how many points you need or how to spend them but here are a few tips: o I like to have 20-50 points spent between levels 51-60. Run speed is the most critical AA you can get in this period. o By level 80 I like to have around 400 AA, mostly in passive increases to your most important abilities. If you are a rogue this might be melee crits. Iff you are a mage, your pet’s defensive abilities are your bread and butter. o By level 90 I’m going to want 1500-2000 AA. Start filling out anything that is critical to your class. If you are a Necromancer, for instance, you’ll want all the Feign Death type abilities, your DoT damage increasers (critical chance and damage bonuses), and Death Bloom (to help you regain mana). o If you are intending on tanking, those numbers are all going to be larger. Tanking is heavily dependent on having all your defensive AA maxed! Should I Get A Mercenary? One of the most important additions to the game has been the mercenary system. Mercenaries are a hirable NPC (easiest places to find them are in Plane of Knowledge or Crescent Reach) that will adventure with you and assist you in defeating your enemies. Prior to level 60, a tank mercenary is almost always the right choice no matter what your class is. After level 60, you might want to look at some of the other options. o Pro tip: if your mercenary dies, you can revive him after 5 minutes or so by clicking the revive button in the mercenary window. Don’t be like me when I first came back to EQ and go back to Plane of Knowledge to get a new one every time! Which Server Should I Play On? Finally, one of the most asked questions I hear from players returning to EverQuest is what server to join. If you have any significant play time in EQ in the past, I strongly recommend returning to your old server. I hadn’t played in about 7 years when I came back; within 2 hours of playing I was talking to people I knew who remembered me after all that time! EverQuest is best when you have a strong social network in game, and you’ll be surprised at how many old friends you run into! Well I hope that gives folks a few useful pointers at least. Also, make sure to browse the Wikia[TS1] and visit the forums to post any others you might have. The EQ Community is happy to help! Eric “Piestro” Cleaver Category:Blog posts Category:News